Nothing lasts forever. It's a harsh reality of life many of us aren't prepared for.
But there's an inherent beauty in things that don't stay perpetually the same. Changes, whether they are of a tangible variety or state of mind, add value to the present as we know it.
It doesn't mean it's not jarring when there's a metamorphosis happening before our eyes.
Curious to hear real-life examples of what strangers online were never prepared for, Redditor Inevitable_Tangelo11ngelo11 asked:
"What's the most shocking transformation you've ever seen?"
One of the most unsettling changes in life is in the appearance of a person whose soul has departed for the next realm.
At Death's Door
"My aunt before cancer vs shortly after dying."
"No amount of dead people on TV/the internet prepares you for seeing it in person."
– insaiyan17
"Even discounting the often lengthy process of dying, there’s a stark difference between almost dead and all the way dead. Even within the hour, though there are no real differences, there’s a strangely visible sense of that person having left."
"Whether you believe in an afterlife or not, you can literally see that a corpse is no longer a whole person."
– FlowerFaerie13
"I’m an RN and I can tell you if a patient is going to die that day - there’s something about their face that looks different, I guess more 'absent' than the day or even hour before."
"I came in one day and saw a patient in her wheelchair playing cards but she had that look in her face and she passed that night. It’s strange, indescribable really."
– This-Tangerine-3994
Final Impression
"Unfortunately I know what you mean, saw it with my dad, cancer literally turns you into a shell of what you once were."
– MeSoHorniii
"I remember visiting my aunt in the hospital about a month before she died. My brother and I were I think 5 and 7? There’s a picture of her sticking her tongue out at us to make us laugh, which is pretty much my last memory of her."
" My dad said (many years later) he’s glad my brother and I didn’t see her again after that, that that isn’t a memory he would want us to have. 9 months with pancreatic cancer…."
– chupperinoromano
The parental and child role swap is an inevitability
Cruelty Of Cancer
"It's really sad to see what cancer does to someone. My father was always a proud person, always did his own thing and was clean and neat, when it came to the end and I had to start cleaning him and changing his diaper he would cry and say he was sorry and that it was embarrassing for him, it wasn't a nice feeling seeing him so defeated."
"I know alot of people just want to stick their loved ones in old age homes, I could never do that, caring for a parent at the end will never be a burden to me, it's a honour. I was 26 and my dad was 76, this was a few months ago."
– MeSoHorniii
"I'm doing this right now with my mother, who had a stroke 2 years ago. It is the worst feeling to feel guilty while having the amazing honor of taking care of your parent who took care of you your whole childhood. The roles are reversed, she is so feeble."
"Two months before her stroke, she lost my father, the love of her life for 63 years. Now that's something that other than cancer, that can leave you a shell. It's like my father took the best parts of her with him, and she is just a shell of who she was."
"They were the dynamic duo, but now all she does is sit in the stare at the window or TV call me if I'm not making her get up and walk. It's just like raising your child; it's the hardest and the best thing you could ever do. Kudos to you for taking care of your father, it's not easy."
– Heavy_Newspaper_316
When people make physical changes to better their health, the final result of reaching goals can be transformative physically and mentally.
Unrecognizable
"My old dean in high school was f'king huge my freshman year. Probably about 6'8, 500-550 pounds, our school bought a golf cart because he physically could not walk from the east end (where his office was) to the west end."
"I got into trouble a lot freshman year because of sh*t that wasn't my fault and he bailed me out every time because he actually analyzed the situations presented to him (something that had never been done at my previous schools)."
"So I saw him a lot then but after that year people knew not to f'k with me so I didn't see him much. When I graduated from school I saw him for the first time in years and I legit gasped. He had lost probably 250 pounds and could actually walk long distances without resting. I was very proud of him." – ConsumptionofClocks
Age Reversal?
"One of my favourite high school teachers was obese. About 5 years after I graduated, I was on an intercity bus, and this guy came up to me to chat like he knew me. After some awkward small talk, he finally tells me who he is. He probably lost 150 lbs."
"I didn't even believe him, he also looked 15 years younger. I had just gotten off a double shift at work and fell asleep. When I woke up he was off the bus. When I told a friend, still skeptical that it was really him, my friend confirmed he had lost weight and looked completely different."
"I felt bad for not talking to him more. In my defense, I didn't live in that town anymore and the bus was not going through that town, so it was odd for him to even be there. I really thought it was some scam."
– MildlyResponsible
A Double-Take
"I went to elementary school with a kid who was a little chubby, on the shorter side, wore glasses, didn't really dress in a way that was considered 'coo'" and was kind of bullied by other kids sometimes. I always felt bad for him because he was nice and I heard some things about his family situation from a girl who lived on his street, and allegedly he was physically abused by his stepdad."
"Didn't see him for years after 8th grade and then ran into him while I was in the Marines, but home on leave when we were 18 or 19. He was also in the Marines & home on leave as well, so were hanging out one night & bonding over that."
"Anyway, I totally didn't recognize him at all when I first ran into him. He'd gotten tall, shed the extra pounds, was completely jacked, and his arms were covered in tattoos. If he wasn't such a nice guy, he'd have looked intimidating."
– Pixelated_Penguin808
People who've gone through major physical transformations can barely be recognized.
Turning A Life Around
"Guy from my school days ended up in prison for trafficking drugs when he was in his early twenties. He was able to get some trade certifications while in prison."
"He got a job when he got out and within 2 years had started his own company. He is kicking @ss and taking names now. Very happy he was able to turn his life around."
– Caspers_Shadow
One Tiny Tumor
"Can I toot my own horn? I had a pituitary tumour that caused Cushing’s Disease. I gained 100lbs, became diabetic, had hypertension, my hair fell out, hair grew on my back and chest (I’m a woman), acne, my eyes were swollen shut, I looked pregnant because my belly was so distended, all muscle atrophied on my body."
"I’m 18 months out from neurosurgery and all of that has been reversed and I barely recognize the person I was for so many years because of a tiny tumour."
– Antique_Albatross
A Second Chance
"One that haunts me is the person who we picked up when I was detox volunteer. Almost completely unresponsive. The nurse was pushing his pen over an inch deep into his chest area to get any kind of response and barely got an eyelid flutter out of it. They sent him to the emergency room."
"On my next shift a few days later, I asked if he was back from the emergency room. I was half convinced he probably had died. But no, he had been released and was in our facility recovering. Turns out he had been injecting hair spray because it was a cheaper high than alcohol."
"When he was pointed out to me, I couldn't even reconcile that *this* guy was the same one I'd seen just a couple days earlier."
– MsTerious1
I remember one of my elementary school classmates who was gangly and always bullied in school because he was easy to pick on.
He never retaliated. He just tolerated the physical harassment and constant ridicule.
Cut to college, I was in the parking lot when I heard someone call my name. I turned in the direction of the voice, and a big beefy dude with biceps bursting from his short-sleeved shirt exclaimed, "It's me, Pasqual, from Taft High!"
Of course! Skinny, push-over Pasqual was now a competitive weight-lifter who could easily knock over his former bullies with a light finger-shove.
Oh, and he was also an out-and-loud member of the LGBTQ+ community, which I was positively chuffed about.
Pasqual has flourished, and that's one fierce transformation I'll never forget.
